The Dream Share Project

Barbara Hiden shares her dream to start a clothing store called Just Jackets that sells cheap jackets to expand a working woman's wardrobe.

Here is some good news from Sacramento:

Well, two things actually. Yesterday we had our Policy Board meeting, which Sacramento Steps Forward helps coordinate and execute. Very fancy pants. The mayor chairs this Board and its staffed by city councilmembers, service providers, big businesses, etc. Its like the exact opposite of all our other Committees (which is mostly homeless people, nuns, rabbis, outreach and social workers and college kids)...but, its the most powerful in the sense that the decisions made there usually become a reality."

the dream of the Intellectuary comedy company took a big step towards realization yesterday. Jess, Ct, Wes, and I met in Silver Spring to discuss goals and comedy ideas. The results were amazing. Everyone had hilarious ideas and we were laughing / sketching / writing / recording all night long. I don't want to give away all of the ideas just yet but i can tell you that you can expect 1) a website (hopefully intellectuary.com) soon 2) at least 4 blogs that are currently being written 3) probably one of them will be a podcast 4) and one will be mp3 blog 5) one will have video 6) one will be in manifesto format 7) a sweet logo designed by Wes.

Those are the things we are working on now.

There were tons of other bigger ideas that will take longer to produce. Its very exciting. Great energy in the group. Please share you funny ideas/ experiences with us. Just comment on this post or email one of us.

Chip

A Dream Share from Kate Towson

Yesterday I dreamed of houses. Houses upon houses, built upon even more houses. And inside: heat, beds, food, furniture. A family that supported you. And a lock on the door.

Yesterday I marched with homeless and formerly homeless people, peace activists, social workers and leaders of churches, mosques and synagogues. We marched from Loaves and Fishes (one of the biggest service providers in Sacramento) to City Hall.

(A word about homelessness in Sacramento: On any given night, at least 2,000 people are sleeping on the streets. Mothers, veterans, children, gay and lesbian youth, single fathers, mentally and physically disabled individuals. They have been ousted from their homes for a number of reasons. The main one? Because there are no homes. In this country, we have a more effective system for dealing with homeless pets than we do homeless people. And in Sacramento, the city has responded violently to the issue of homelessness. Last year, a group of homeless created a Tent City, a transitional living situation. It was home to hundreds of people, until the government came and literally demolished it. Not only that, but on any given night the police would come by and harass individuals, verbally and physically. It was a very unsafe place, but at least it was a place, a place that wasn’t a bus stop, a doorway, a park bench or the road. Safe Ground, an organization run by homeless individuals and homeless advocates, has responded by calling on the city to create a literal Safe Ground, a permanent camp site where homeless individuals and families could live somewhere transitionally until they were placed into permanent housing. Not only would a permanent camp site represent a semblance of a home, but it would form an unbreakable community that would support and listen to each other. At Safe Ground, the hope would be for a protected space that also was home to service providers. )

Safe Ground is, of course, controversial. And, of course, Safe Ground has as many supporters as it does opponents. I was impressed, frankly, by the number of participants yesterday. I was disappointed with the way we were ignored by some passers-by. Just like people who are homeless, homeless causes and issues are typically ignored by the general public. The march tried to make enough noise to “shake the windows of City Hall” (in the words of one of the ministers) and rouse them from their complacency. People were agitated yesterday, no doubt, they were upset and anxious. They chanted: What do we want? Housing! When do we want it? Yesterday! This is a city that has abandoned buildings, lots and businesses on every street corner, yet due to pathetic city ordinances no one can live there. A city where the average cost of a studio apartment is $200 more than the average amount given in disability checks. This is a city where women and men who are homeless are abandoned by society, looked at as if they were a disease; molested, beaten, raped, discriminated against because they are the most vulnerable. A city where the public buses stop three blocks from where most of the shelters are because they don’t want homeless people riding the bus (they didn’t want the public to be “uncomfortable”). A city that is just like every other city in this country.

I hope it worked. The mayor has half-heartedly joined the cause, although I suspect its only for brownie points. There were many speakers yesterday. One was a woman from the Women’s Empowerment Project, a local non-profit. She is currently homeless. She has four children: 21, 20, 19 and 17. One son is in jail. Her other son can’t stay with her in the family shelter because he’s too old: 17. She lost her job when the recession struck and she, like many Americans, had no savings. She doesn’t know what to tell her children. She doesn’t know what to feed them at night. She doesn’t want to separate the family, so instead they sleep outside sometimes. A whole family. You know what she said? “Shelters shouldn’t separate families based on their age. I don’t care if my children are 99 years old. They are still my children.” And then she started crying. Sorry for my language, but I really fucking hope the mayor was listening.

My point for this blog is not to make people feel guilty or depressed. My point is to show how one common dream—really, a universal human right—united a whole slew of people yesterday! No bickering, no disagreements, no platitudes. Shelter. A home. A Bed for Every Head. At night I imagined all the homeless people in this country (by underestimates, at least 3.5 million adults and 2 million children) dreaming. Dreaming of huge homes and small homes and backyards and porches and dining room tables and privacy and safety and warm pillows and showers and bathrooms. I wish that at night, the power of all of their dreams, the power of all those combined dreams, could make something. Wouldn’t be amazing if, in the morning, every single homeless person and family woke up to a house at their feet?

I thought about this and I thought about the Dream Share Project. It’s similar, right? Coming together to share dreams and motivate for change. Yesterday, the passion and hope of the people was so powerful you could feel it. You could feel the force of those dreams. And whether your dream is changing the path of your own life, or someone else’s, it’s probably the most important thing you’ll ever do.

A Dream Share by Chip Hiden

Here are some things I was thinking about today.

To me, the only important thing is that people enjoy their life.

What else matters? You get one shot to live. Why not enjoy every second?

Not just bits and pieces. Not just the sad and happy times, but all of it. When life is bad, when you hurt for relatives or people you've lost, then really hurt. Really feel something. That is part of really living. When you chase a dream, then really chase it. Run and fight for it until you can't anymore. Until your last breath. (Walt Disney died with a dream on his lips. As he lay in the hospital bed, he was tracing plans on the ceiling for his last dream: EPCOT) When you sing for triumph of a dream achieved, then sing until your vocal chords go raw and be content to smile and hum when you cant sing anymore. Party until the lights go out, as they say. Party your whole life for that matter. Party when your 90 and in a wheelchair.

Enjoy the sun and the sand and the trees and green and the snow and the cold. And friends. And people who aren't your friends yet but could be.

That is the kind of life I want to live.

It has nothing to do with green paper with monetary denotations on it.... (Although I work a job for a paycheck)

It has nothing to do with hierarchical systems of power that give one person dominion over another...(Although I work at a job where this is the system in place)

It has nothing to do with wasting a single second not in the pursuit of a dream that you believe in... (Although I feel like I am wasting tons of time at my job)

Maybe I am a hypocrite. I sometimes feel like one. But I think lots of people have the same problem. The inner-struggle about whether to be a dreamer or to be practical. Right now I'm being practical but I don't want to get stuck here.

Inside, a different message pounds through my head and it gets louder every day.
An entire life spent chasing a dream, is the most meaningful kind of life one can hope to lead.

In the pursuit of a dream, you will find that even the bumpiest paths, the rockiest mountains, and stormiest periods are all challenges that you will smile at and endure with gladness of heart.

If I were ever bringing people together for a project, I think this is how I would approach it...

I don't want to tell you what to do. I will be a leader but I will not be a boss. I don't think I could inflict my will upon another or use threats to get my way. I want to be an enabler not a controller. All I want to do is help you start running on the path to your own goals and dreams. All I want to do is lift you up to give you the strength to climb those mountains. All I want to do is be your umbrella when it storms. I feel strongest protecting you and your dreams. And even though one day I will blow away in the storm, my life was worth living if your journey was made even one step easier.

I've heard that people are motivated by incentives. But instead of tangible rewards, maybe what some people really want is for their leader to give them encouragement. Or kind words. To be a teacher and motivator rather than a micro-manager. What would it mean to you if your boss sat down with you and asked you what your dreams were and asked you how he/she could help you achieve them. That is the kind of leader I want to be.

To me, the only important thing is that people enjoy their life.

I think I can help people do that. I think I can help you greet the world with a smile.

Some sites I LOVE and inspire me and remind me to NOT GET STUCK IN A BOX, every time I look at them:

http://www.planetsark.com/

www.daneldon.org, http://www.creativevisions.org/index.htm

www.kickstarter.com

www.roadtripnation.org

www.lonelyplanet.com


What are your inspiring Web sites?